


The Green-Ey'd Monster

by Cinaed



Series: The Best of Carolina The Teenage Witch [23]
Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Alternate Universe - Sabrina the Teenage Witch Fusion, Crush at First Sight, F/M, Friendship, High School, Magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-03
Updated: 2019-09-03
Packaged: 2020-10-06 03:26:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20500094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cinaed/pseuds/Cinaed
Summary: It's the start of Carolina's junior year, and changes are in the air. Some people are more excited about the changes than others.





	The Green-Ey'd Monster

**Author's Note:**

> Time for Church and Carolina to go back to school! 
> 
> Thanks goes out to creatrixanimi and Aryashi as always.

“Freedom,” Church says, taking an exaggeratedly deep breath as he steps off the bus.

Or maybe it isn’t exaggerated, because Carolina feels herself relax as she follows him. She wants to put most of the summer behind her, the near death experiences and the misery of being grounded indefinitely and trapped in the brownstone. She lengthens her stride so that she and Church are walking side by side. “It’s more like we’ve got a temporary reprieve,” she reminds him.

He makes a face. “Yeah. Yeah.”

“Hey, stranger,” Wash calls. He, Niner, Connie, Tucker, and Caboose are milling outside the front doors. “Long time no see.”

Niner waves as Carolina and Church approach. “Yeah, about time. We’d almost forgotten your face.”

Caboose blinks. “Oh! You should get a photo of her so you don’t forget. Or a scrapbook! I have one that my sister Beth helped me make, and it has a bunch of pictures of me and Church and Tucker. She could help if you want!”

“Thanks, Caboose,” Niner says, smiling. “I’m not really an arts and crafts person but I’ll think about it.”

“Okay,” Caboose says. Then he fixes his eyes on Church. He’s already vibrating with excitement, but now his expression changes. He’s clearly resisting the urge to tackle and hug Church like he did at the mall. “Hi, Church!”

Church sighs. “Hi, Caboose. Just hug me and get it over with. We all know you--”

Caboose doesn’t let him finish. Whatever Church was going to say is muffled against Caboose’s shoulder as Caboose lifts him off the ground in a full body hug. “I missed you so much! Did you miss me too? What did you do while you were grounded? At least you had Carolina with you. I just had Tucker.”

Tucker rolls his eyes as Caboose continues his questions, oblivious to the fact that Church is being hugged too hard to answer any of them.

Carolina dodges Church’s swinging feet and joins Wash and the others by the door.

“God, I can’t believe I’m happy school’s starting,” Tucker says. “Caboose kept moping around. It was annoying.” Despite his tone, he grins as Church starts squirming in Caboose’s grip. “Better go make sure Caboose doesn’t break a rib….”

“Still grounded, or did Grey and Kimball finally calm down?” Niner asks.

Carolina smiles ruefully. “What do you think?”

“At least you can still do track, right?” Wash yelps as Connie elbows him. He makes a face. “I didn’t mean it like that! ...Though I’m pretty sure Sarge will cry if you quit.”

“No, I’m still on the team. Going to the Slicery is out though.”

“I’m sure you’re disappointed about that,” Connie says dryly.

Carolina smiles. “Not going to miss the food, but--”

“Who is that?” Caboose says in a tone she’s never heard from him before. When Carolina glances at him, he’s wearing a thunderstruck look, his eyes wide. She turns, following his gaze, and sees an unfamiliar girl get out of a car and lean in through the open car window to give the driver one last hug.

“There’s a new girl?”

Carolina recognizes that tone from Tucker, like his IQ’s dropped to zero and his brain is just chanting GIRL GIRL GIRL on repeat. She’s not surprised when he immediately starts walking towards the new girl. She is surprised when Caboose sets Church down and shoulders past Tucker, actually knocking him into York.

“Dude!” Tucker protests.

Caboose ignores him, walking straight towards the girl. A few steps away from her, though, he stops, pauses, and then turns on heel and walks back towards the group, almost knocking Tucker over again. His face is red.

“You okay there, Caboose?” Wash asks, looking amused.

“Um, yeah, I--” Caboose takes a deep breath. The next sentence comes out in such a rush that it takes Carolina a second to decipher it. “Doyouthinkit’dbeweirdifIaskedifsheneedshelpfindingherlocker?”

There's a beat of silence as everyone glances at each other. Church squints at Caboose, baffled. "What are you talking about?"

"I just don't want to be weird," Caboose says.

Tucker, rubbing his shoulder, says sourly, "Dude, you're definitely wei--"

“I don’t think so,” Carolina interrupts. “Wash helped me find mine on my first day.”

Caboose shoots her a grateful look. Then he squares his shoulders. “Okay,” he says. “Okay, I can ask that, and if she says no, I will go away so I won’t be weird.”

“Good luck with that,” Niner says. Carolina can’t tell if she’s being sincere or not, because she looks fascinated.

Caboose takes it as encouragement, because he smiles at her and says, “Thanks, Niner!” Then he takes a deep breath and walks back towards the girl, who’s waving after the car as it pulls away from the curb.

“What is happening right now?” Church asks.

“Pretty sure Caboose has a crush,” Wash says, grinning.

Church frowns slightly.

Carolina’s amused by Caboose’s obvious crush. Still, she points out, “He hasn’t even talked to her yet.”

“Yeah, but she’s _hot_,” Tucker says. He groans as Niner stomps on his foot.

“Hi,” the girl says. It’s only now that Caboose’s practically face to face with her that Carolina realizes how tall the girl is. She’s smiling a little. “May I help you?”

“No,” Caboose says, and then gives a shake of his head that rattles his entire frame. “Uh, I mean, I was wondering if you needed help. With finding your locker? Or your homeroom? The school’s pretty big, and I used to get lost here a lot.”

The girl brushes long black hair away from her face. Her smile widens. “That is so nice of you to offer. I would love some help finding my locker.”

“Okay! We can do that!” Caboose says excitedly. He starts to stick out his hand, and then plucks at the strap of his backpack instead, adding, “I’m Michael J. Caboose, but my friends all call me Caboose.”

“Hi, Caboose. You can call me Sheila.”

“Sheila,” Caboose echoes, his voice softening on the name.

“Seriously?” Church mutters. “This is stupid. You can’t get a crush on someone before you even know their name!”

Niner snorts. “Boys get crushes if you smile at them.”

“And she’s hot,” Tucker repeats. This time he’s learned his lesson. He jumps back as Niner’s boot swings in his direction.

“Sometimes you just know,” York adds, having followed Tucker over to the group. He flushes slightly and darts a glance towards Carolina. “I mean, that’s what I hear anyway.”

“Oh my god,” Tucker groans. “What if Caboose gets a girlfriend before I do? _Caboose_?! I’ll have to change my name and move to, like, California.”

“Don’t make promises you’re not gonna keep,” Niner says.

Tucker glares at her. “This right here is why you’re single too.”

Niner snorts. “Yeah. Okay.”

“That was your sister?” Caboose says, sounding delighted. “Is she awesome? She’s probably awesome. Sisters usually are. I have seventeen because I am super lucky.”

Sheila pauses a little. Her eyebrows rise. “Seventeen?”

“Yeah! There’s Abigail and Bethany and--”

Caboose and Sheila pass by the group without Caboose even glancing their way.

Tucker snickers. “Uh oh. I think it’s your turn to get replaced as Caboose’s favorite person, Church.”

He’s busy watching Caboose open the door for Sheila, but Carolina sees the way shock ripples through Church, his mouth dropping open like Tucker’s landed an unexpected punch.

Then Church’s lips go thin. His surprise shifts to obvious irritation. “Yeah, whatever,” he mutters.

* * *

Simmons shuffles through the papers on his desk one more time as the first of the students begin to trickle into the classroom. He has his homeroom class list, his notes for the robotics club recruitment, and his first week lesson plans.

He feels the same excitement as last year, maybe with a little less nervousness now that he has a whole year of teaching under his belt. This year he’ll start with promises of making things explode and catch on fire, and see if he can get some early enthusiasm.

A yawn builds in his throat; despite his resistance, it escapes. It’s an enormous yawn, one that makes his jaw ache. He rubs a hand across his mouth like that will prevent more yawning. He should have gone to bed earlier last night, but he got distracted with the list of experiments Doctor Church plans to try with him this week, ones that involve new magical resources that might allow Simmons to do magic more consistently--

“Well, it looks like someone needs a vacation from their vacation!” Donut says brightly.

Simmons looks up, startled, to find both Donut and DuFresne standing in front of his desk. They both wear broad smiles, but there’s concern in DuFresne’s eyes.

Heat instantly creeps into Simmons’ face. Between his own embarrassment and the whole Felix and Locus and then the Doctor Church distractions, he never got back in touch with Donut or DuFresne after the speed dating incident. “Oh, hi, Donut. Hi, DuFresne. Donut, shouldn’t you be in your homeroom?”

Donut waves a dismissive hand. “The kids will survive a couple minutes with no supervision!”

Simmons raises his eyebrows. “Will they?”

“Probably!”

“We just wanted to check in,” DuFresne says. He still looks concerned, but maybe it’s over a new thought since DuFresne glances at the clock as he adds, “And you’re right, Frank should get back to his classroom. And I should...probably make sure no kids are trying to turn in their medication at the office.”

Donut makes a face but lets DuFresne drag him towards the door. “We’ll see you in the teachers’ lounge for lunch!”

It’s not actually a question, but Simmons answers anyway. “Uh, yeah.”

“Good! See you then, Simmons!”

“Okay,” Simmons says around another yawn. His jaw actually pops from the force of this one. He winces and does a hasty self-evaluation of his exhaustion. It wouldn’t be the best start to the school year, falling asleep at his desk.

He sighs and gets to his feet, raising his glasses a little so he can rub at his eyes. Maybe if he stays on his feet, writes his name on the board or something, he’ll wake up. Either that, or he’s going to have to do an emergency run to the teachers’ lounge for coffee.

* * *

“One thing I didn’t miss was the food,” Carolina says, poking at the sad-looking lasagna. It’s a step up from the congealed pizza, but not by much. Maybe now that she knows some food spells, she can start bringing packed lunches.

Thinking of food spells makes her think of her dad, which she’s managed to avoid the whole day so far. That’s another great thing about being back at school: distractions from magic and her dad, whose second dinner at the brownstone was almost as awkward as the first.

“For someone who told me she ate fried grasshoppers and liked them, you’re still the pickiest eater I know,” Connie says. She slides an apple across the table, which Carolina accepts with a thank you.

“Ew,” Church says, scrunching up his face. “Let’s not talk about all the weird things Carolina’s eaten.”

Carolina grins at him. “What? You don’t want to hear about me eating black pudding?”

“No,” Church says.

“But Church, you love pudding,” Caboose says.

Carolina glances up to see him holding his lunch tray and looking confused.

Church scowls. “It shouldn’t be called pudding.”

“I don’t want to know, do I?” Wash asks.

“No.”

Sheila is standing next to Caboose. She has a packed lunch, a plain brown paper bag that she sets down on the table as Caboose pulls out a chair for her. Sheila’s smile is slow but warm as she says, “Thank you, Caboose. These are your friends?”

Caboose flushes. “Um, you’re welcome. And yes, they are!” He turns his smile on the group, oblivious to the way Church’s eyes have narrowed. “Guys, guys, this is Sheila and she’s really cool, and she just moved here with her sister, and she likes robots and science and-- oh, Sheila, that’s Church, my very best friend, and Tucker, my substitute best friend when Church isn’t around, which right now is a lot because he got grounded, and that’s--”

“Caboose.” Caboose’s mouth snaps shut when Sheila smiles up at him. “Could you slow down? I want to learn everyone's names but you have a lot of friends.”

“Yeah, everyone likes Caboose,” Wash says with a grin.

“That does not surprise me,” Sheila says. “He is _very_ nice.”

Caboose’s blush, which has started to fade, returns in full force.

Tucker glances between Sheila and Caboose. He mutters something under his breath that sounds suspiciously like ‘unfair’ and then waves at Sheila. There's a tinge of sarcasm to his voice. “Hi. Tucker, former best friend, now the substitute apparently.”

“Hi, Tucker.” Sheila turns her smile on Church. “And you’re Church?”

“Yeah,” Church says.

“Caboose has told me a lot about you,” Sheila says.

Church snorts. “Yeah.” He doesn’t say anything else.

Sheila’s smile doesn’t fade, but she tilts her head a little, a considering gleam lighting her pale grayish-green eyes.

Oblivious, Caboose cheerfully continues. "And that's Carolina, She’s Church’s sister! She's nice and is really good at track! Oh, and she and Church moved here last year, so you can ask them questions about being new!”

Carolina smiles at Sheila. “Nice to meet you.”

“Oh!” Caboose repeats loudly. He’s still holding onto his tray, apparently too excited to remember to eat or sit down. “Sheila, do you want to join a club? You said you like robots, you could do the robotics club with me! We have lots of clubs here.”

“There’s a list on the bulletin board,” Connie says. She waves at Sheila. “I’m Connie.”

“Hi, Connie.” Sheila glances down at her lunch briefly, then she looks up at Caboose’s smile. “We could take a quick look at the list before we eat?”

“Okay!” Caboose agrees. He finally remembers his tray, and sets it down beside Sheila before they head across the cafeteria towards the list.

As soon as they’re out of earshot, Tucker groans loudly. “This sucks! Caboose can’t get a girlfriend before me! That’s not allowed-- what are you doing?” This is said to Connie and Niner, who are both pantomiming crying.

“Crying over your sad dating life,” Connie says.

Wash snickers. “We already figured out that Caboose has more game than you or Church.”

“Yeah, it’s called not being a creep,” Niner says.

“I’m not a creep! Screw you guys!” Tucker says.

As Tucker complains and the others tease him, Carolina leans towards Church and whispers, “Why are you being weird?”

Church frowns. He slouches in his seat, darting a glance towards the rest of the table. Assured that no one heard her, he hisses back, “I’m not being weird! _Caboose_ is being weird! You don’t get crushes on total strangers!”

Carolina almost laughs before she realizes Church is serious. “Caboose decided you were his best friend within two minutes of meeting you, remember?”

Church rolls his eyes. “Not the same.”

Carolina remembers his earlier shocked look. “Are you--”

“Am I what?”

“Jealous,” Carolina says before she can consider her word choice. She probably shouldn’t be surprised when Church’s voice rises to an offended screech.

“_Jealous_?!”

Most of the room turns to look at their table, and Church slouches even further, a furious red splotching his cheeks as Niner snickers and says, “Aw, poor Church.”

“Don’t worry,” Wash says, all mock-sympathy. “Caboose won’t be a Connie and ditch you ninety percent of the time for dates--” He breaks off from his joke as Connie shoves him half off the bench, struggling to keep his balance.

“I’m not jealous,” Church growls. His finger twitches like he wants to mind-wipe everyone in this conversation, including himself. “I’m just saying Caboose is moving kind of fast--”

“Dude, he decided I was his best friend because I gave him my space pencil and we were best friends until you showed up,” Tucker says with a roll of his eyes. “He imprints on people fast, like ducks.”

“Yeah, but--” Church goes silent as Sheila and Caboose return to the table.

“Robotics Club is going to be so fun!” Caboose says happily. “You’ll like Mr. Simmons. He loves science.” He pauses to practically inhale his pizza.

Carolina whispers to Church, “Just stop being rude.”

Church grimaces. For a second he looks like he’s going to argue with her. Then he pulls himself out of his slouch. His smile looks slightly forced, but Caboose beams, pleased, as Church asks, “So, uh, where did you move from?”

* * *

The teachers’ lounge is always crowded for lunch.

Today’s no exception. Simmons stakes out a place in one of the corners where he can eat and drink some coffee in peace until Donut and DuFresne arrive, which they do about three minutes later.

Simmons blinks as DuFresne enters with a lunch box in either hand. Behind him, Donut carries in a gift basket.

“We wanted to give you a ‘welcome back to school’ gift! And to thank you for helping out with the set-up for, well, the fundraiser,” Donut explains, smiling at him. “It’s got a lot of skin care products and some aromatherapy supplies. There’s a nice gel that gets rid of pesky shadows under your eyes--”

“And some incense that helps with insomnia,” adds DuFresne.

Simmons blinks at them, taking in their earnest smiles. He resists the urge to touch his face. Does he look that tired? He knows he hasn’t been sleeping as much as usual, too caught up in his experiments, but he thought Grif was exaggerating when he said Simmons looked terrible. “Um, thanks, I guess? But I--”

“You’re welcome!” Donut chirps, setting the basket down at Simmons’ elbow. “So, how was the rest of your summer? We missed you at the August Wine and Cheese Hour!” He opens his mouth to keep talking, and then shuts it as DuFresne sets the lunch boxes down and gives him a look.

“Oh, uh, sorry, August was a little…busy……”

“That’s okay,” DuFresne assures him. “It’s not mandatory or anything! We hope you can make it to September’s.”

The Wine and Cheese Hours may not be mandatory, but the expectant looks on Donut and DuFresne’s faces make Simmons feel a little guilty for not being able to give them a definite yes. “I’ll try to make it,” he says, and leaves it at that as Donut smiles.

“Well, the rest of our summer was mostly uneventful,” Donut says. “Though Whiskers gave us both a heart attack. We thought he was lost for a few hours, but it turned out he’d escaped to the rooftop garden and was debauching himself with catnip.”

“Oh!” DuFresne offers Simmons a folded piece of paper. “Faith asked us to pass along her phone number after, um, the speed-dating.”

“She did?” Simmons says blankly. He stares at the paper. He likes Faith, but he would never date a student’s sister. The idea of having to turn her down and disappoint her makes him feel anxious and guilty. He’s mostly put the speed-dating incident out of his head, but now all the discomfort returns in a rush. He realizes that DuFresne is still holding out the paper. He forces a smile. “Right. Uh.”

DuFresne adds quickly, “Though she isn’t up for dating! She said she was a little too busy with the job hunt and it wouldn’t be fair to anyone. But she’s looking for a friend. Apparently most of her friends are off in Boston or out of state for work.”

Relief fills Simmons. He takes the paper. “That makes sense. You go where the work is.”

“Exactly,” Donut agrees.

“Por eso terminé aquí con todos ustedes. Algún día escaparé.”

“Don’t forget to come to Wine and Cheese Hour either, Lopez!” Donut says.

Lopez gives them all a long, expressionless look. “Su gusto por el vino y el queso es tan excelente como sus personalidades son terribles. Esa es la única razón por la que voy.”

“Aw, you’re always welcome!” Donut says.

Lopez doesn’t return his grin. He goes back to reading a book.

Simmons tucks the paper away in his pocket. He starts to take another sip of his coffee and then pauses, studying the gift basket. Donut wasn’t exaggerating. Just a cursory glance shows it’s full of skin care creams and aromatherapy oils and incense. Donut probably didn’t have that in his classroom. Did he run out during his free period and buy it for Simmons?

Simmons resists the urge to sigh.

He knows one thing for sure. Grif is never going to let him live down the fact that Donut and DuFresne took one look at him and decided he needed to recover from his summer.

* * *

Carolina doesn’t realize how much she’s enjoying the low-stakes drama of high school until she realizes she just has one class left. She frowns as she puts her Algebra II textbook into her locker and pulls out her English textbook. Going back to the brownstone means dealing with Grey and Kimball, who apparently have decided to really focus on her spellwork now that her father is visiting once a week expecting updates. It’d be one thing if the spells were useful like the clothing or food ones, but most of them just seem pointless.

“I can walk you to your last class,” Caboose offers, hovering beside Sheila’s locker.

“What?” Church says before Sheila can answer. “That’s on the other end of school.”

“I’ll make it back in time,” Caboose says. He grins at Church and then turns back to Sheila.

Everyone’s busy getting stuff out of their lockers and heading to their final class for the day. It’s only Carolina who’s watching Church as his eyes narrow, and only Carolina who recognizes the tell-tale twitch of Church’s finger. There’s a quick, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it spark of blue, and then Church walks away muttering “Yeah, sure.”

Sheila tries her locker combination and frowns as the locker rattles but stays shut. She tries again. “Oh dear. I guess I am still getting used to the locker.”

When she tries a third time, Carolina sighs and mutters under her breath, “Church jammed the locker out of petty spite, now unlock it and make things right.” The door springs open, and Sheila looks startled and then relieved.

Carolina goes to catch up with Church. He’s almost at Donut’s door when she grabs his shoulder and whispers in his ear, “What is _wrong_ with you?”

He squirms out of her grip. “What are you talking about?”

“I saw the locker thing.”

Church grimaces. “Locker thing?” he asks, but it’s halfhearted deflection at best. When she gives him a look, he scowls back, bristling. He tugs at his hair and mutters, “I just-- he’s being-- she’s-- just a joke, okay?”

“Don’t use--” Carolina stops as North passes them. She whispers, “We don’t use you-know-what on people! I don’t care if you’re mad Caboose likes someone better than you or whatever!”

Church’s scowl darkens. “I’m not mad about-- ugh, whatever.” He storms into the classroom and flops into a chair at the back of the room, ignoring Mr. Donut’s cheerful hello. There he slouches, propping his head in his arms as he pointedly avoids looking back at Carolina.

Carolina wants to make him promise not to use magic on Sheila or anyone else again, but she can’t do that in a room full of normal kids. She’ll have to wait until tonight.

For now, she contents herself with glaring in his direction and then going to sit next to Wash, who shoots her a curious look.

“Church is being weird,” she says.

Wash snorts. “No offense, but your brother’s always weird.”

Carolina’s surprised into laughter. “Yeah,” she says ruefully. “He really is.”

The bell rings. Church lifts his head briefly, and Carolina sees a slightly guilty, slightly satisfied look flicker across his face. Then he slumps back down again as Donut begins to call roll.

Caboose bursts through the door just as Donut calls Wash’s name. He skids to a stop, looking embarrassed as Donut raises an eyebrow and says in a dangerously mild tone, “Late on the first day, Michael?”

“Sorry!” Caboose clasps his hands in front of him and looks apologetic. He’s not breathing hard, but there’s a flush in his face and a sheen of sweat on his forehead, like he’s sprinted from one side of the school to the other. “I was showing Sheila where her Precalculus class is. I thought I could get back here before the bell, and--”

Donut waves a hand. He’s smiling now. “I met Sheila earlier. That’s nice of you to make her feel welcome, but tomorrow she’ll have to find her own way over there, okay? You get a free pass for being a good Samaritan today, but that’s it.”

“Okay!” Caboose agrees. He glances around and spies Church. Brightening, he heads to the back of the room.

Donut makes a note on his class roll and then gets to his feet. He beams at the class. “Now that we’re all here, I can tell you guys that you’re in for a treat! We’re starting with one of my favorite books. It’s got everything! Murder! Doomed romance!”

“I don’t remember anyone being murdered in Pride and Prejudice,” someone mutters.

Donut waggles a finger. “No, we're reading Mary Shelley's Frankenstein! And we’ll be finished just in time for Halloween!” He smiles expectantly, the universal smile of teachers that are hoping their students will get excited about something school-related.

Instead York leans forward and asks, “So can we watch one of the movies for Halloween?”

“Oh, can we have popcorn?”

Donut gives the room an unimpressed look. “That depends.”

“On what?” York asks.

“On how the next few weeks go. I’m not taking your movie request seriously if you guys don’t take the book seriously.”

There’s a chorus of groans, but Donut just goes to the chalkboard and writes _Frankenstein by Mary Shelley_ on the board. He turns, brandishing the chalk with a sharp smile. “So, how many of you have heard about Frankenstein?”

Pretty much everyone raises their hands except for Carolina and Church.

Donut nods, like he was expecting that response. “Okay! How have you been exposed to the story of Frankenstein and his monster?”

“Mighty Morphin Power Rangers had an episode about it!” Caboose says. As Donut writes Mighty Morphin Power Rangers on the board, Caboose adds, “Well, Rita Repulsa made the monster.”

“Young Frankenstein,” York chimes in. He grins. “Hey, can we watch that one--”

“Anything else?”

“You really don’t know anything about Frankenstein?” Wash asks Carolina, his voice low.

Carolina shrugs. “Home-schooled, remember?”

“Yeah, but--”

Caboose raises his hand. “Oh! Wishbone! There was a Frankenstein Wishbone episode!”

“What’s Wishbone?” Carolina asks.

Wash looks slightly horrified. “Okay, the first thing we’re doing when you’re ungrounded is watching some Wishbone.”

“Really? The first thing?”

Caboose turns to Church. In a carrying whisper, he says, “I bet Sheila has read a lot of books. I wonder if she’s read Frankenstein. Oh! She’s going to read it too. We could do a book club!”

Church lifts his head briefly. He doesn’t say anything for a second, just stares up at Caboose. Carolina watches as his mouth twists a little. He says flatly, “If that was supposed to be an invitation, I’m grounded, remember?”

Caboose blinks. From his expression, it seems like he actually forgot for a minute about Church being grounded. Church’s mouth twists again as Caboose sighs. “So no book club.” Then he brightens again. “Oh gosh, I hope Freckles likes her!”

“Okay!” Donut says, clapping his hands until everyone stops talking and looks at him. “Now I want everyone to take out a piece of paper and write down what you think the book is going to be about. Carolina, Church, just write down that you don’t know anything about Frankenstein, or have a little fun and make a guess or two!”

“Great,” Church mutters and drops his head back into his arms.

* * *

Church bolts for the stairs the second that they get to the brownstone, muttering something vague in response to Kimball’s question about their day.

Carolina pauses just long enough to say, “It was fine.” Then she follows him to his bedroom.

Church scowls. For a second she thinks he’s going to close his door in her face, but then he rolls his eyes and leaves the door open. She steps inside as he throws himself down on his bed. “Go ahead, yell at me about using magic on mortals,” he mumbles.

“That’s not what,” Carolina starts to say. She stops and reconsiders her words. “Okay, yeah, don’t use magic on people. But I just-- why are you being so weird about Caboose?”

Church grimaces. “I’m not being weird. I just think it’s dumb. He doesn’t even know her.”

“It's a crush. People get crushes all the time.” When Church stares at her, she shrugs. “...I mean, according to the movies, right? And he's getting to know her. You might actually like her too if you'd stopped being jealous and sulking.”

“I’m not jealous!” Church snaps. “Stop saying that!”

“Then stop being weird!” Carolina says. As Church makes another face, she realizes they’re talking in circles. She sighs. “Seriously. I think it’s sweet that Caboose has a crush. Try being a good friend and get to know her.”

“I asked her where she used to live.”

Carolina rolls her eyes. “How about questions about her sister? Or why she’s interested in robots? Or if she plays sports?”

She’s surprised when Church smirks at her last question, at least until he says, “You just want her on the track team cause she's tall.”

Carolina hesitates. It’s clearly Church trying to change the subject, but she also knows they’re just going to keep talking in circles. She lets the conversation steer away from Caboose for now, though she’s not going to let Church be rude to Sheila again.

Instead she says, “....She’s so tall though. She probably runs so fast.”

“_So_ fast,” Church agrees, and Carolina pretends not to notice the faint relief in his face.

**Author's Note:**

> Look, Season Three is a lot, okay? And we're beginning to realize that most of our Honorable or Dishonorable Mentions would be spoilers no matter what. So we're trying something new for this season. You guys seemed to enjoy the interview and the deleted scene, so we're going to try to include more stuff like that, and trivia stuff. 
> 
> So, for starters, here's a fun trivia fact: Leonard Church was just supposed to be a minor character like Sabrina's father, but the writers liked the actor so much they spent a couple seasons trying to figure out how to make him a recurring member of the cast. And in season 3, they finally pulled it off!


End file.
